The official blog of Meria Carstarphen, superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools

Proud of the Latest Class of APS Posse Scholars!

[UPDATE: January 13, 2019: And then there were eight! Two more APS students have been added to the latest class of Posse Scholars. Congratulations to Payton Gunner (Brandeis University) and Connor Mason (College of Wooster), both from Drew Charter!]

It’s great when we can start a new year – and a new decade – with an announcement that illustrates a wonderful example of preparing our students for college and career. I am so proud of our eight seniors who were awarded four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships by the Posse Foundation.

The Posse Foundation is a college access and youth leadership development program that identifies, recruits and selects leaders from public high schools. These student leaders are then placed in supportive multicultural teams called “Posses” to attend partnering colleges and universities.

I cannot say enough great things about this program, but here are a few:

Posse Scholars graduate from college at a rate of 90 percent.

Since 1989, Posse’s partner colleges have awarded $1.4 billion in scholarships to Scholars. The Atlanta branch, established in 2007 with a grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, has awarded nearly $100 million of that.

The Posse network of scholars and alumni stands at 9,200 strong, so that’s a lot of support!

This year, 60 students from Metro Atlanta will be awarded $12 million in full-tuition scholarships to six institutions of higher education – Bard College, Boston University, Brandeis University, The College of Wooster, George Washington University and Texas A&M University. Posse Atlanta celebrated these students during a special program last night at the Fox Theatre’s Egyptian Ballroom.

The 2020 APS Posse Foundation Scholars are:

Name

High School Name

Posse Finalist University

Shania Barker

North Atlanta High School

Bard College

Jelani Spain

Maynard H. Jackson High School

Texas A&M University

Gabriela Oliveros

North Atlanta High School

George Washington University

Payton Gunner

Drew Charter

Brandeis University

Connor Mason

Drew Charter

College of Wooster

Hasina Chimeka-Tisdale

North Atlanta High School

George Washington University

Jack Palaian

Henry W. Grady High School

George Washington University

Maria Nino Suastegui

North Atlanta High School

Boston University

APS School Counseling Coordinator Maria Grovner coordinated the multi-step Posse Scholars nomination process with students, which includes educating them about the application process and encouraging them to apply, maintaining the required GPA and coaching them on their scholarship interviews. Thank you so much!

Congratulations to these students and families who are living the APS mission!